Friday, October 30, 2009

On Tuesday, October 27, the Alternate Dispute Resolution Society held their intra-school Client Counseling Competition. Thirteen student teams competed and the teams of: Brian Shupak and Lisa Catapano; Pallvi Babbar and Bella Borukhova; Brandon Kopcienski and David Adhami; and Dan Wilkens and Tripti Singh advanced to the final rounds which were held on Thursday, October 29. Brian Shupak and Lisa Catapano placed first and Dan Wilkens and Tripti Singh placed second and will go on to represent Touro Law School at the Regional Client Counseling Competition that will be held at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva University, New York, N.Y.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, alumni, competitors, Lane Bubka and the entire ADR E-Board who helped to make this competition possible.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fidelity Nation Title Insurance Company, FindLaw and Citibank present a Continuing Legal Education Seminar on November 12, 2009, including one credit on Notary Public Law and one credit on Ethical Considerations in an Online World.

Speakers includ Michael Isernia, Esq. '98 and Frank Colletti, Client Development Consultant at FindLaw. The Seminar is completely free of charge and will be held at Blue Restaurant, 7 Montauk Highway, Blue Point, NY. Registration begins at 5 p.m., and the program will from 6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Last year, we began an exciting project here at Touro Law Center: A monthly pilot support group focused on better self- and interpersonal-awareness. The goal of this group was to help lawyers and law students better serve their clients, people who are often faced with overwhelming legal and other needs. Last year, this opportunity was available to lawyers, paralegals & law students working in PAC, its affiliated organizations and our clinics. Based on that experience, we have decided to make a few adjustments to enhance the success of this enterprise. One change is that we are inviting some Touro Law alumni who provide direct client services to join the group.[1]

We are fortunate that the same two highly qualified and experienced psychotherapists have agreed to join us again as facilitators. Dr. Marlene Kasman has been a clinical psychologist for over 40 years, with a private practice that has included individual, group and family therapy. Dr. Joanne Taylor has been in private practice in clinical psychology since 1993 and is currently working at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Northport as part of the Polytrauma team. Both Dr. Kasman and Dr. Taylor are excited about the opportunity to work with lawyers and others who are coping with the challenges of providing legal services for the underserved citizens of our community.

Given your incredibly busy lives, why participate in this group?

Sharing with others is a good way to find relief for the burdens and imbalances that come naturally from serving clients with challenging legal and/or emotional problems.

Former participants tell us that they have felt refreshed, restored and re-energized after just one one-hour session.

If the stress of representing difficult clients sometimes takes its toll on your day-to-day functioning, or on your ability to be as effective professionally as you might be, please consider joining this group.

We will meet twice this semester. The first meeting of the group will be on Wednesday, November 4th from 1-2 p.m. in the Multifaith Room at the Law Center. A light lunch will be served. The second meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 2nd. If interested, please return the below form, either by e-mail to msilver@tourolaw.edu or by mailing to the Law Center to Professor Marjorie Silver by 12 p.m. on Friday, October 30.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

On Tuesday, November 10 at 5:30 p.m., Russ Korins, Esq. of Russ Korins Consulting LLC will hold a 1 1/2-hour seminar at Touro Law Center titled "Attacting New Clients and Growing a Client Base." Refreshments will be served and there is no fee to attend.

How can attorneys target their outreach to clients and contacts to build a thriving and rewarding practice over the long term? At this seminar you will learn about ways to attract business by interacting with the people you already know. We will also discuss ways to stay visible among the people who can refer you your best work. Practicing attorneys will leave with tools for growing their client base, and students will take away pointers to build a foundation of success starting on their first day of work.

Speaker Russ Korins has assisted businesses and people with attracting clients forten years and established a speciality practice for law firms after workingas an attorney. His work with law firms has included business generationinitiatives, marketing, and the tailoring of Web site production to firms'business goals. Based in New York City, Russ has worked with law firms andother professional services firms throughout the metropolitan area.

If you would like to attend or receive further information, please contact Irene Sacks at irenes@tourolaw.edu or call (631) 761-7030.

Justice Souter’s last term, after 19 years on the Supreme Court, was marked by numerous significant decisions, one of which – the New Haven Firefighters case – became a focal point for Senate interrogation of Justice Souter’s appointed replacement, Sonia Sotomayor. The Court also avoided a widely expected confrontation with the constitutionality of a key aspect of the Voting Rights Act, with a narrow decision leaving the issue for another day.

The Court rendered many significant decisions pertaining to civil rights litigation, including decisions expanding prosecutorial immunity, modifying qualified immunity procedure, severely limiting claims against prosecutorial supervisory officials, rejecting a right to post-conviction DNA testing, but allowing state court § 1983 suits against corrections officers. The Court found that the strip search of a middle school student violated the Fourth Amendment, but that the school officials were protected by qualified immunity. The court rendered other important decisions under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

There was a major decision holding that the Confrontation Clause requires prosecutors who introduce laboratory reports to produce the analyst for cross-examination. The Court also decided important Fourth Amendment issues pertaining to vehicle stops and searches, and the exclusionary rule, and imposed restrictions on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

In the business area, the Court decided significant cases concerning federal preemption of state law, and the due process right of recusal of a state judge who accepted unusually large campaign contributions.

These and other decisions will be discussed and analyzed by a highly accomplished faculty of federal court judges, a law school dean and preeminent constitutional and civil rights scholars. This highly successful program is now in its 21st year.

Anyone interested in the work of the United States Supreme Court will find the program informative, interesting and intellectually stimulating. Cost of the program is $100 per person, including materials, light breakfast, lunch and six hours of CLE Professional Practice credit.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

On November 5, The Public Relations and Marketing Group (PRMG) will hold its “PR and Marketing for Lawyers” lecture at Trio Restaurant, located at 700 Patchogue-Holbrook Road in Holbrook. The lecture is from 12:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. and is free of charge for attorneys. Attorneys will receive one Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit for ethics and professionalism for this three-hour program. The course is appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys.

The CLE lecture will be presented by PRMG’s Founder and President, John Zaher '98, an attorney. It will cover marketing; advertising; press conferences and press releases; public relations; practice development techniques; relationships with existing clients; Web site design, marketing and optimization; professionalism requirements, including an update on New York’s advertising rules; and the impact of Web 2.0 concepts — such as blogs and social networking — on lawyer marketing.

This program will provide attorneys with strategies to grow their practice while conforming to ethical requirements. In addition, those in attendance will gain practical tips for choosing marketing methods that are suited to their practice, personality and their means.

Registration and lunch will begin at noon. Please note that this lecture is open to attorneys only. Seating is limited to the first 35 persons.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

On Tuesday, October 27, the Touro Law Center Alternative Dispute Resolution Society will hold the preliminary round of the intra school Client Counseling Competition from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Law School in Central Islip.

The Client Counseling Competition provides students with an opportunity to develop the skills they will utilize in practice. The Competition simulates a law office consultation in which two person law student teams, acting as attorneys, are presented with a client matter. The students conduct an interview with a person playing the role of the client and then explain to the client how they would recommend proceeding further in the hypothetical situation. Each team is given 45 minutes to conduct a client interview and a post-interview self analysis. While the judges are present during the interview and self-analysis, they do not interact with the students teams. The teams are judged on ten different criteria including understanding the client’s goals and objectives, problem analysis, effective counseling, the client’s informed choice and post interview reflection. The final round is scheduled for Thursday, October 29 starting at 5:30 p.m. until approximately 8 p.m.

We hope you will be able to join us as a judge or client for the Client Counseling Competition. Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested in volunteering as a judge or client, please contact Kristin Matthews at (631) 761-7063 or kmatthews@tourolaw.edu.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Suffolk Academy of Law will present two CLE programs, featuring three esteemed law professors, during the week of October 12, 2009. One is a practical imperative for state and federal litigators: Professor Siegel's do's and don'ts based on the latest developments affecting the CPLR, taught this year with his colleague, Professor Patrick Connors. The other is a consciousness-raising imperative for all attorneys and their guests: a treatise by guest lecturer Professor Harry Reicher on how the law (as exemplified in Nazi Germany) can be distorted to promote evil ends.

NEW YORK CIVIL PRACTICE UPDATE featuring PROFESSOR DAVID D. SIEGEL - Wednesday, October 14, at the Hyatt Regency Wind Watch Hotel (6:30--9:30 p.m.; sign-in and deli-buffet from 6:00 p.m.). Improve your odds on making the right decisions by attending this important annual lecture by New York's CPLR guru, Professor David Siegel. This year, Professor Siegel will be joined by his colleague Professor Patrick Connors. Together, they will present what promises to be an entertaining, information-packed seminar on the trends and developments that affect the way you litigate. Topics include disputes about notice of claim; issues about removing cases to federal court; long-arm jurisdiction in Internet purchases; OCA's expedited procedure for TRO's; mandatory attendance of defendant's insurer at conferences; hazards of using mere "notice" to start an action; prescribed steps for identifying unknown parties; time limits on voir dire; computing attorneys' fees as frivolity sanction, and much, much more. You'll learn a lot, be entertained by the professors' wit and style, and undoubtedly see colleagues you might see only in the courtroom or, once a year, at this important lecture! Three MCLE credits will be awarded. Tuition is $155 for SCBA members, $185 for non-member attorneys; $100 for student members. To access the publicity flier, click here.

ANNUAL DIVERSITY LUNCHEON: THE DESTRUCTION OF LAW & THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM BY THE NAZIS - Thursday, October 15, Luncheon, at the SCBA Center (12:30--2:10 p.m.; sign-in from noon). This year's Diversity Month Luncheon, presented in conjunction with the Suffolk Center on the Holocaust, Diversity, and Human Understanding, features Professor Harry Reicher, considered the pre-eminent authority in the United States on legal issues of the Holocaust. The lecture, fraught with meaning for all times and for all people, will provide a thought-provoking analysis of how the law can be perverted to accomplish ends that are evil and inhumane. Professor Reicher's lecture will include four significant discussion topics: "Discrimination, Ostracism, Dehumanization: the Nazis Legislative Assault on the Jews"; "No One Ever Died Illegally in Auschwitz: The Nazis' Obsession with Legalizing the Holocaust"; "Law and the Holocaust: the Ultimate Oxymoron"; and "The Dagger of the Assassin Hidden Beneath the Robe of the Jurist." It is a presentation you will long remember, and SCBA members are urged to bring friends and family members, who may attend at a reduced rate. The program provides 2 MCLE credits. Tuition is $45 with MCLE credit, $30 without. Click here for the publicity flier.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Mitchell C. Shelowitz '91, Managing Member of Shelowitz & Associates PLLC, has been recognized as one of the top business lawyers in New York City by New York Super Lawyers.

Super Lawyers identifies the top five percent of attorneys in the New York metropolitan area who have attained a high degree of professional achievement and recognition, as determined through a selective and extensive process of peer nominations, blue ribbon panel review and independent research by Law & Politics Magazine.

The listing was published in a special supplement to the New York Times Magazine, and in a stand-alone magazine, New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition, in the Business and Corporate Law category. This places Mitchell Shelowitz among the top New York City lawyers from powerhouse firms such as Wachtell Lipton, Skadden Arps, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal, Schulte Roth, Debevoise & Plimpton, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Greenberg Traurig, and others.

Mitchell C. Shelowitz is a business lawyer with 17 years experience representing U.S. and international businesses in the full range of corporate and commercial legal matters – from corporate deals to dispute resolution. He has multi-industry experience representing clients in the venture capital, technology, telecommunications, Internet, software, healthcare, biomedical, homeland security, wine, food and restaurant, cosmetics, consumer brands, banking and insurance industries.

For Mitchell Shelowitz's full bio, please click here. And for more information on Super Lawyers, click here.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Nassau County’s top women practicing law in private and public firms, the courts, higher education and government will come together for an innovative discussion of the issues that impact women in the legal profession in a special “Women in Law Symposium: Gender Equity Program” on October 21, hosted by the Nassau Academy of Law, the educational arm of the Nassau County Bar Association.

“Women continue to make tremendous advances in the legal profession,” noted NCBA President Emily Franchina. “This symposium will explore the past, present and future issues affecting female attorneys in corporate and in-house fields, private practice, solo firms, small and large law firms, government and in the courts, through a series of roundtable discussion and networking opportunities, led by the top women legal professionals in the county.”

The first part of the program will explore how Title VII has changed the practice of law for women, careers for women attorneys in the corporate and in-house fields, goals and expectations for women in private practice, and a perspective from the bench of women in the courts. Then attendees will break out into smaller groups to discuss work-life balance, flex time and job share, public sector hiring in New York City and Long Island, professionalism, networking and client referrals, setting up and managing a firm, advocating for clients, the administration of government, and the role of women in government and politics. The final part of the program will be a review of the roundtable discussions followed by a cocktail party.

Reservations for “Women in the Law Symposium: Gender Equity Program” are $25 and free for members of the Nassau County Bar Association. Three optional Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits are available for an additional $75 fee. Reservations may be mailed to the Nassau Academy of Law, 15th and West Streets, Mineola, NY 11501, or by credit card by calling the Academy at 516-747-4464.

About the Nassau County Bar AssociationFounded in 1899, the Nassau County Bar Association, with a membership of nearly 6,000 private and public attorneys, judges, legal educators and law students, is the largest suburban bar association in the country. NCBA demonstrates its commitment to the community by offering a variety of services for the public, including lawyer referral services, mortgage foreclosure and senior citizen clinics, judicial screening, public education programs and support for the Volunteer Lawyers Project, which provides much-needed free legal services for the indigent of Nassau County. For more information, call (516) 747-4070, e-mail info@nassaubar.org, or visit www.nassaubar.org.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Touro Law Center's Office of Development, Alumni Relations and Communications is proud to announce that Richard Lopex '97 has been selected as the Alum of the Month for October.

Richard Lopez has his own law office located in Miami, Florida, practicing in the areas of international trade finance, Export-Import bank financing, international business transactions, commercial transactions and real estate transactions. In addition to practicing law, Mr. Lopez is the managing principal of Drake Finance Group, an approved Direct Guaranteed Lender of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Mr. Lopez served as the Director of Enterprise Florida (Florida Department of Commerce) and Special Projects Advisor to the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Caracas, Venezuela. He was also a legal consultant during his stint in Latin America and worked for law firms in Brussels, Belgium, Lisbon, Portugal and London, England.

Mr. Lopez remains an active member of the alumni community and participates in programs for students, and volunteers to meet with prospective students at Law School Forums in his area.

To read Richard's full bio, please click here. On behalf of the entire law school community, we extend our congratulations to Richard Lopez.